Bump in the night (and day)!

[dfcowan]

For the past several months, our indoor sound system speakers for our TV emit loud bump sounds. Often this occurs in the night loud enough to wake us up. The bumps sound like a door slamming or someone stomping around upstairs in our house, and the first bumps are always followed by several more bumps within approximately 20-30 minutes. Then, for several hours, there are no bumps. We contacted the folks who installed our unit, and they don't have a clue on what's causing this. Can you help?

 

[ssddx]

details? without them there is nothing we can say. thing such as how you have things connected, what you turn off/leave on, what equipment you have, etc.

are the speakers self powered or are they powered by an amp?

if self powered and connected via an analog line (such as 3.5mm) then if anything (and i mean anything) bumps that input line it could make thumping noises. if the line falls off the table, if a cat plays with it, etc. always turn off such speakers before unplugging them.

if powered by an amplifier did you turn off the amplifier power? i wouldnt leave this turned on when you arent using it.

if you have a subwoofer connected then perhaps..
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1159740/random-subwoofer-thumping-noise-ideas

 

[thee_prisoner]

I had that problem so I brought in medium to ask the ghosts to be quieter. haha

So this never happens during the daytime?

 

[dfcowan]

I had that problem so I brought in medium to ask the ghosts to be quieter. haha

So this never happens during the daytime?

 

[dfcowan]

Well, I thought seriously about ghosts, but we built our house so no one has died here, to my knowledge at least. Besides, it happens during the day, too. But do ghost roam only at night???

 

[ssddx]

you are free to believe it is ghosts if you want...

but i would suggest starting with the very practical reasons you could be getting noises.

you mentioned the speakers but it could be other things like your water pipes or hvac banging around.

 

[thee_prisoner]

Assuming this is an installed system with wires running through the walls it could also pests like mice.

You sure you didn't build the house on an old burial ground? hehe

 

[dfcowan]

details? without them there is nothing we can say. thing such as how you have things connected, what you turn off/leave on, what equipment you have, etc.

are the speakers self powered or are they powered by an amp?

if self powered and connected via an analog line (such as 3.5mm) then if anything (and i mean anything) bumps that input line it could make thumping noises. if the line falls off the table, if a cat plays with it, etc. always turn off such speakers before unplugging them.

if powered by an amplifier did you turn off the amplifier power? i wouldnt leave this turned on when you arent using it.

if you have a subwoofer connected then perhaps..
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1159740/random-subwoofer-thumping-noise-ideas

you are free to believe it is ghosts if you want...

but i would suggest starting with the very practical reasons you could be getting noises.

you mentioned the speakers but it could be other things like your water pipes or hvac banging around.

 

[dfcowan]

Thanks, ssddx, for your more practical suggestions. We've explored the water pipes/HVAC possibilities. We disconnected the whole audio system last evening before going to bed and had the first night of uninterrupted sleep in weeks. Must be the speakers.

 

[ssddx]

maybe your speakers are possessed!

on a more practical note... i would suggest answering a few of the questions i listed above (which you quoted) to perhaps find the root of the issue with your speaker set